DeSignate

DeSignate identifies and ranks diagnostic molecular character positions in gene sequence reference alignments and represents characters as character state vectors to support character-based taxon diagnoses integrating molecular and morphological evidence.

Key Features:

• Novel ranking scheme: Employs a unique representation of gene sequence data to evaluate and rank diagnostic molecular character positions for taxon diagnoses.
• Character state vectors: Uses character state vectors to detect and classify individual and combinatory signature characters (diagnostic molecular characters).
• Formal definitions and terminology: Introduces formal definitions and uniform terminology for characters to promote consistency in taxonomic diagnoses.
• Reproducibility and traceability: Produces ranked and classified diagnostic characters to enhance reproducibility and traceability of taxon diagnoses.

Scientific Applications:

• Integrative taxonomy: Supports inclusion of molecular characters alongside morphological characters in taxon diagnoses using gene sequence alignments.
• Diagnostic character discovery: Detects diagnostic combinations of molecular characters to aid species differentiation and classification.

Methodology:

Analyzes gene sequence data using a novel representation to rank and classify diagnostic characters; the algorithm identifies individual and combinatory signature characters using character state vectors.